making your subjects agree

One of the grammar issues that keeps copy editors in business is subject-verb agreement. When a subject noun is plural, it often takes a different form of a verb than it does when it is singular. In this product description on the Hard Candy website, what it should say is, “The long-lasting, chip-resistant polish ensures flawless results,” because the subject, polish, is singular. (In this case, they’re talking about a line of nail polish.) If the sentence was written in the plural, the correct form would be, “These long-lasting, chip-resistant polishes ensure flawless results.” An easy shortcut is to remember that typically, if your subject is singular, the verb is plural, and vice versa.